Friday, March 13:
R. relates all sorts of things concerning the Thursday gathering, which shows that he enjoyed being in the company of these men. Despite snow and bad weather, at the house morning and afternoon. R. also finds much to vex him there and returns home in gloomy spirits, but works on his score in the morning and afternoon.
Two very nice letters from the singers Betz and Niemann, who agree unconditionally to work for R. and are demanding no fee.
In the evening we read some of Tieck’s theater criticism (Letters on Shakespeare, etc.) with great interest, and we are delighted with what he has to say about Hanswurst and the comparison he makes with the dramatists of today, his description of Julius Caesar in London, and also of Lear in Dresden. In connection with the last of these, R. tells me about the actor Hellwig—how fine he was and how upset R. was—all these things had infinitely fascinated him in his childhood.